Open motorized vehicles such as motorcycles are commonly used for recreational and utility purposes. Many motorcycles are not equipped with windshield panels. The lack of a windshield panel allows wind and debris to blow in the face of the motorcycle operator, decreasing the visibility and comfort of the operator during use. After market windshield panels have been developed for use with most motorcycles.
Depending on the type of use of the motorcycle, a windshield may not always be necessary or desirable. It may even be desirable to have different types of windshields depending on the environment the motorcycle will be subjected to during use. The industry has developed a windshield panel that is removably attached to the motorcycle to allow the windshield panel to be removed or replaced with a new windshield panel. There are many different mounting systems to allow fixed attachment to the motorcycle or removable attachment. A typical means of removably attaching a windshield panel to a motorcycle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,175 B2 ('175). The '175 coupling assembly attaches to the motorcycle fork tube by means of a pair of straps for each leg of the tube. Each pair of straps is connected to a base that has a pair of flanged wheels. The flanged wheels then deflect to allow their insertion into corresponding slots on a bracket affixed to the windshield. The amount of pressure needed to remove the windshield from the coupling assembly is a fixed amount of pressure to allow for a quick removal of the windshield. It does not allow for easy adjustment of the amount of force needed to remove the windshield panel as required by different conditions. It also requires attachment to the handlebar fork of the motorcycle.
Therefore, what is needed is a quick-release coupling assembly that may be attached directly to the handlebars and easily allows for adjustment of the amount of force needed to remove the windshield panel from the coupling assembly.